Spain's economy minister Luis de Guindos, widely tipped by many to become the next leader of the Eurogroup forum of eurozone finance ministers, may have to wait for up to a year before he finds out if he has landed the role.

"De Guindos has a lot of support but this is not something that is going to be decided today," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said to reporters on his arrival on Saturday at an European Union summit in Brussels to assign top EU roles.

But in a press conference after the summit Van Rompuy said the Eurogroup leadership job had not come up in discussions.

He stressed the term of the current head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem didn't expire until the middle of 2015, and added the leader was chosen by the eurozone's finance ministers, not by Heads of State and governments.